Feed control for burners



Sept. 18, 1934. A. J. HARTFIELD 55 FEED CONTROL FOR BURNERS Filed Feb. 14, 1953 /8a lab IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 18, 1934 FEED CONTROL ron BURNERS August .1. Hartfield, Huntington Park, Calif.

pp cation February 14, 1933, Serial No. 656,670

2. Claims.

This invention relates to a main service safety valve for burners.

An important object of the invention is to provide a safety valvefor burners, more particularly for the type of burners used in gas stoves for domestic service, which will be constructed andop- 'erated in such a manner as to prevent children from turning the gas on. With this end in view the valve is constructed to be manually moved to an open position and is provided with means for automatically returning it back to the closed position, unless the burner be lit while the valve is held open and manual force is maintained upon the valve to keep it open for a brief interval after the burner is lit. The length of time which the valve must be manuallyheld in an open position before it will remain in such position, is determined by a thermostat acted upon by the heat from the burner or burners, the supply of fuel to which is controlled by said valve.

In connection with the foregoing object it is the purpose of the invention to provide a verysimple, durable and inexpensive type of safety valve which will consist of only a few parts and these capable of being conveniently assembled and taken apart, and which may be used for a long period of time without danger of getting out of order.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burner control device which may be combined in an advantageous manner with a. pair of main burners, the entire construction furnishing a heating appliance of a more compact and simpler nature.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention may hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing which illustrates what is at present deemed to be a pre-. ferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device showing a fragment of the pipe with which it is connected. Parts are sectioned on line 1--1 of Fig. 3.

Fig. Z'is a cross section on line 2.-.2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 393 of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the terminal sleeve 5 of the fuel supply pipe is shown connected by an elbow 6 with a fitting '7 through which leads a fuel supply passage 8 which is controlled by a two-way cylindrical valve head 9. Said valve head 9 is rotatably and slidably fitted within the cylindrical valve casing 11, a stem 12 upon which said head is formed or to which it is secured being manually operable by means of a hand wheel or knob 13.

The valve head 9 is of an elongated character and is provided at its inner end with a bore 14 within which is fitted a spiral compression spring 15, said spring acting between the bottom of said bore and a screw cap 16 which is screwed onto one end of the valve casing 11. Near its inner 6 end the valve head 14 is provided with a circumferential external groove 17 and with this groove cooperates the inner section 18 of a thermostatically operated rod. lhe valve casing 11 is shown provided with an extension 19 within which said rod section 18 is slidably fitted, a suitable stuffing box 21 being provided to prevent escape of gas through said extension. lhe inner end of the valve head 9 is preferably provided with a circumferential. bevel 28 in order that it will freely slide beyond the stem section 18 even though said stem section projects slightly into the valve chamber.

The rod section 18 is slidable through the stuffing box 21 in order to be moved into and out of engagement with the groove 17 around the valve head. The sliding movement of said rod section is imparted by means of a bi-metallic thermostatic arm 22 the free end of which is connected with a rodsection 23, said rod section, in turn, being adjustably connected with the already mentioned rod section 18. The preferred means of connecting these two rod sections consists of a sleeve 24 one end of which is pinned to the rod section 18 and the other end of which is connected in a screw threaded manner with the rod section 23. The rod section 23 is shown extending through the free end portion of the thermostatic arm 22 and furnished with a head 25 which rests upon the upper side of the thermostatic arm. A positive movement of the rod section 18 into engagement with the groove 17 is insured by the provision of a spring 13a which operates against a collar 18b carried by the rod section 18. The thermostat, when cooled, moves the rod 18 up; the spring 18a moves it down when the heat deflects the thermostatic arm downwardly.

The thermostatic arm 22 is shown secured at its fixed end to a boss or rise 26 formed upon the burner plate 27. Said burner plate is shown provided with an upwardly directed flange 28 whereby the structure will as a whole be bolted to and supported by the wall structure or stove frame, a fragment 29 of which is shown. The fuel from the valve controlled fuel pipe 7 is fed to a burner pipe 31' which, in the present embodiment of the invention, is shown furnished with the two burners 32, 82 one located near each side of the thermostat 22. It is to be understood that the burner pipe 31 may be used to support additional burners to those shown in the drawing and that said pipe will be provided with suitable end closure means.

Referring to details of construction, the valve head 9 is provided with a diametrical passage 33 and the stem of the valve has secured thereto near its outer end a sleeve 34. Said sleeve is preferably held in place by a screw 35 which also acts as a stop element. The valve casing is provided with a tubular extension 86 Within which the sleeve 34 slides. This extension is cutaway at 3'? and the edges of the cutaway portions form stops which cooperate with the screw 35 to limit the rocking movements of the valve stem 12. A stuffing box 38 is preferably provided at the outer end the valve casing 11. The fuel can be fed from the fuel supply passage 8 through the valve passage only when the valve head is moved to its right hand position as shown in Fig. 3 and is then rotated in such a manner as to bring stop screw 35 to the proper limit of its travel. From the valve passage 33 the fuel passes through the outlet nipple 39 and fitting ll to the burner pipe 31.

A pilot burner 45 supplied from a pilot burner pipe 46 may be added to the structure, said pilot burner being positioned to heat the thermostat and thus deflect it downwardly and allow the spring 18a to move downwardly the rod section 18 to form a latch which will lock the main valve head 9 against being automatically closed. In such a case the automatic closing feature will not be operative. When, however, it is desirable to guard against children tampering with the device, it is only necessary to shut off the fuel supply of the pilot valve. Then it will still be necessary for the valve 9 to be held in the open position long enough for the heat from the main burner to act upon the thermostatic arm 22 and thus operate the rods and 18 to lock said valve against the action of the spring 15; or else said spring will automatically close the feed valve. The pilot burner pipe is shown provided with a manually operable valve 47. The pilot burner 15 is positioned between the two burners 32 in order that it may ignite both of said burners as well as supply means for heating the thermostat 22.

Before describing the operation in detail it should be noted that the valve head 9 and cap 16 are so constructed and arranged that when the groove 17 of the valve head alines with the thermostatically operated rod section 18, the inner end of said valve head contacts with the internal portion of said head 16. Before the stop screw 35 can be shifted to the left beyond the end of the sleeve 36, the left end of the valve head 9 engages the stuiiing box 38.

In the operation of the device, assuming that the pilot burner is not operating, an adult person may readily slide the valve head inwardly until the inner end thereof abuts against the stuiiing box 16, at which time the valve passage 33 is in register with the intake passage 8 and at the isame time the groove 17 alines with the inner section 18 of the thermostatically controlled rod. Upon this being done the operator will turn the valve to the open position and will thereupon light the burner. After the burner has been lit he will continue to hold the valve in its open position against the opposition of the spring 13 until suificient time has elapsed to cause the heat to act upon the lei-metallic thermostat 22 and thereby move the rod section 18 into engagement with the groove 17 and prevent the automatic cutting off of the fuel supply. If a child attempts to light the burner he will be unable to do so unless he has acquired sufiicient intelligence to perform the operation above described.

When the pilot burner valve 47 is open and the pilot burner is in operation, it will, of course, not be necessary for the operator to light the main burner while he holds said valve open.

I claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, a burner, a fuel supply for said burner, a slidable and rotatable cylindrical valve to control said fuel supply, saidvalve being furnished with a circumferential groove and with a diametrical fuel control passage, a casing having a bore wherein said valve is mounted, said casing having a screw threaded end portion, a cap to screw into said end portion, said cap having a seat extending into its inner side and said valve having a bore in an end portion thereof to cooperate with the seat in said cap, a spiral compression spring having one of its end portions disposed in said seat and its other end portion occupying said bore in the valve, said spring tending to slide .i

said valve toward a closed position, latching means to hold said valve at the limit of its sliding movement wherein it places said spring under the greatest tension, a stop into contact with which said valve is slidable against the opposition of said spring to bring the fuel control passage thereof into an operative position and to simultaneously bring the groove thereof into register with said latchirig means, and a thermostat positioned to be heated by said burner, said thermostat being operatively related to said latching means.

2. In a device of the kind described, a burner, a fuel supply for said burner, a valve casing having a tubular bore through which said fuel supply diametrically extends, a slidable and rotatable cylindrical valve having a working fit within said bore to control said fuel supply, one end of said valve projecting from one end of said bore to provide for a manual sliding and rotation of said valve, the other end of said valve being adjacent to the other end of said bore, a cap engaging the last mentioned end of said bore, said cap having an internal seat and the adjacent end of said valve having a bore extending into it,

a spring occupying both said bore and said seat, said'spring tending to slide said valve toward a closed position, latching means to hold said valve at the limit of its sliding movement wherein it places said spring under the greatest tension, a

the groove thereof into register with said latching means, and a thermostat positioned to: be

heated by said burner, said thermostat being operatively related to said latching means.

AUGUST J. HARTFIELD. 

